20110914 Bhagavad-gītā 9.24 Class

20110914 HH JAYAPATAKA SWAMI GURU MAHARAJ GAVE A BG 9.34 CLASS IN TIRUPATI, INDIA

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāminn iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe

So now we will read the Bhagavad-gītā 9.34:

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam
ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ

Translation: Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.

Purport: In this verse it is clearly indicated that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the only means of being delivered from the clutches of this contaminated material world. Sometimes unscrupulous commentators distort the meaning of what is clearly stated here: that all devotional service should be offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Unfortunately, unscrupulous commentators divert the mind of the reader to that which is not at all feasible. Such commentators do not know that there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa's mind and Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is not an ordinary human being; He is Absolute Truth. His body, His mind and He Himself are one and absolute. It is stated in the Kūrma Purāṇa, as it is quoted by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī in his Anubhāṣya comments on Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Fifth Chapter, Ādi-līlā, verses 41-48), deha-dehi-vibhedo 'yaṁ neśvare vidyate kvacit. This means that there is no difference in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, between Himself and His body. But because the commentators do not know this science of Kṛṣṇa, they hide Kṛṣṇa and divide His personality from His mind or from His body. Although this is sheer ignorance of the science of Kṛṣṇa, some men make profit out of misleading people.

There are some who are demonic; they also think of Kṛṣṇa, but enviously, just like King Kaṁsa, Kṛṣṇa's uncle. He was also thinking of Kṛṣṇa always, but he thought of Kṛṣṇa as his enemy. He was always in anxiety, wondering when Kṛṣṇa would come to kill him. That kind of thinking will not help us. One should be thinking of Kṛṣṇa in devotional love. That is bhakti. One should cultivate the knowledge of Kṛṣṇa continuously. What is that favorable cultivation? It is to learn from a bona fide teacher. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and we have several times explained that His body is not material, but is eternal, blissful knowledge. This kind of talk about Kṛṣṇa will help one become a devotee. Understanding Kṛṣṇa otherwise, from the wrong source, will prove fruitless.

One should therefore engage his mind in the eternal form, the primal form of Kṛṣṇa; with conviction in his heart that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme, he should engage himself in worship. There are hundreds of thousands of temples in India for the worship of Kṛṣṇa, and devotional service is practiced there. When such practice is made, one has to offer obeisances to Kṛṣṇa. One should lower his head before the Deity and engage his mind, his body, his activities—everything. That will make one fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa without deviation. This will help one transfer to the Kṛṣṇaloka. One should not be deviated by unscrupulous commentators. One must engage in the nine different processes of devotional service, beginning with hearing and chanting about Kṛṣṇa. Pure devotional service is the highest achievement of human society.

The Seventh and Eighth chapters of Bhagavad-gītā have explained pure devotional service to the Lord that is free from speculative knowledge, mystic yoga and fruitive activities. Those who are not purely sanctified may be attracted by different features of the Lord like the impersonal brahma-jyoti and localized Paramātmā, but a pure devotee directly takes to the service of the Supreme Lord.

There is a beautiful poem about Kṛṣṇa in which it is clearly stated that any person who is engaged in the worship of demigods is most unintelligent and cannot achieve at any time the supreme award of Kṛṣṇa. The devotee, in the beginning, may sometimes fall from the standard, but still he should be considered superior to all other philosophers and yogīs. One who always engages in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be understood to be a perfectly saintly person. His accidental nondevotional activities will diminish, and he will soon be situated without any doubt in complete perfection. The pure devotee has no actual chance to fall down, because the Supreme Godhead personally takes care of His pure devotees. Therefore, the intelligent person should take directly to the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and happily live in this material world. He will eventually receive the supreme award of Kṛṣṇa.  [Surrender-Unto-Me]

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So here Kṛṣṇa is advising us that we should think of Him, we should offer Him obeisances, we should be His devotee and we should worship Him. In this way you can come to Him. This instruction is given twice in the Bhagavad-gītā. Unfortunately, many are not taking advantage of Kṛṣṇa’s mercy and instead somehow, they are misled. So there is some nice instruction here. That Kṛṣṇa is not material; His body is sat-cit-ānanda – eternal, blissful and full of all knowledge. And this is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā where it says īśvaraḥ parama kṛṣṇa, sat-cit-ānanda vigraha. Also in the Ṛg Veda Kṛṣṇa adi Purusha Kṛṣṇa Purushottama So there is no difference between His body, mind and Himself. We have a difference between our body and mind. We are the atma. But Kṛṣṇa, He is transcendental. So there is no difference between His body and His mind. So somehow we have come to this material world because we do not want to surrender to Kṛṣṇa. But with Lord Caitanya’s mercy we can easily get this devotion for Lord Kṛṣṇa. In this way Lord Caitanya gives His mercy even to the non-believers. Paapi taapi jotho chilo Hari naame uddharilo. By chanting the holy names, even sinners will be delivered. Taar Saakshi Jagai Madhai. The proof is Jagai Madhai. They were not followers; they were not devotees. They were sinners. They were drunkards. They were thieves, rogues. But Lord Nityananda, He gave mercy to them. And ultimately, Lord Caitanya also accepted. So this holy name is so powerful and Lord Caitanya’s mercy is so great.

There is a song by Lochanadas Thakur which was taught to us by Srila Prabhupad. He told them how fortunate they were that Nitai Gaur were present. He told that you can be far, far away in a distant corner of the world, far away from the holy dham. But the Americans, they have to think they are in the centre of the world. Prabhupad told them you are in a distant place, far from the holy dham. Tirupati, Tirumala, is also a holy dham. This dham is non-different from Vaikuntha. And here one can also get a special benefit by devotional service. But in the dhams where we have Kṛṣṇa, Vrndavan dham, this is called Maadhurya dham, dham of sweetness. There Lord Kṛṣṇa had His childhood and youthful pastimes. There Kṛṣṇa is worshipped with Radharani. And Radharani, She made the Navadvip dham for the pleasure of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So there Radha and Kṛṣṇa are combined. There Kṛṣṇa appears as Gauranga. He takes the mood and color of Radharani. That place is non-different from Vrndavan. It is called the Audurya dham, the dham of mercy. There is also Jagannath Puri which is in the Sri Kshetra. And that dham is called the Aishwarya dham. And there Kṛṣṇa is worshipped as Jagannath with Baladev and Subhadra. And like Kṛṣṇa and Balaram are worshipped in Dwaraka. So Kṛṣṇa spoke Bhagavad Gita at Kurukshetra before the battle and told Arjuna how to be Kṛṣṇa conscious and how to handle the worst situation. So Arjuna following the Bhagavad Gita was able to be Kṛṣṇa conscious all the way through. So all of us who follow the Bhagavad Gita can surely remember Kṛṣṇa all through their life.

There is a pastime told by Jagadananda Pandit. When he and Lord Caitanya were together in their school days were walking through the forest in the Godrumdwip which is the island of kirtan. And they say a parrot. So Lord Caitanya told the parrot that you are non-different from Shukadev Goswami. So you should chant the glories of Radha and Kṛṣṇa. But the parrot began chanting Gaura Gaura! Gaura Gaura! Gaura Gaura! Lord Caitanya shut His ears with His hands and said, no, no, I don’t want to hear this. You should chant the glories of Radha and Kṛṣṇa. So the parrot began chanting again, Gaura Gaura! Gaura Gaura! Gaura Gaura! Again Lord Caitanya closed His ears and said, this place is non-different from Vrndavan. So here, like Shukadev Goswami, you should chant the glories of Radha and Kṛṣṇa. And the parrot replied, You are right, this place is non-different from Vrndavan but here Radha and Kṛṣṇa have combined, so I will chant Radha and Kṛṣṇa in my way! You can chant in Your way! And the parrot began chanting, Gaura Gaura! Gaura Gaura! Gaura Gaura! So Lord Caitanya held His hears and ran away. So Lord Caitanya, He revealed that He was Kṛṣṇa once or twice. Sometimes to one devotee, He would reveal, but He came as a devotee. So He didn’t like anyone who disturbed Him as a devotee. But He gave His mercy very freely. So by worshipping Lord Caitanya, we can get bhakti for Lord Kṛṣṇa. That is the secret.

Now in the Govinda Dwadashi. Govinda! There is also a month called Govinda. In India there is month called Phalgun. That is the day when Madhavendra Puri disappeared. Who is the disciple of Madhavendra Puri? (Devotees say, Ishwara Puri). Other than that? (Devotees say, Advaita Chandra). Yes, Advaita Chandra. He observed his guru’s disappearance day with a big festival. And it is described in the Caitanya Bhagavat about the event. Then Lord Caitanya, He declared, that anyone on this thithi, at this place, who takes prasadam, they get Govinda bhakti! Govinda! Govinda! Govinda! So that thithi is Govinda Dwadashi and the sthaan is the ashram of Advaita Chandra. So we take many busloads of devotees to that place. For just eating! Who likes eating? So just be eating the prasadam at that time, at that place, you get Govinda bhakti. Govinda! Govinda! Govinda!

You see Balaji, in His pastime a key player is Padmavati. And it is mentioned that She is Vedavati who cursed Rama. She also took the role as Chaya Sita. So She wanted Lord Vishnu as Her husband. And Sita said, please take Her, She has suffered so much for Me. But Rama said that He had taken the vow of eka patni vrata, one wife. Although it was the custom of kings and Kshatriyas to take more than one wife. Lord Rama, He only took one wife. So He said in the kali yuga I will marry this Vedavati. So in the last kali yuga Srinivasa Govinda came and Vedavati came as Padmavati and He married Padmavati and the whole leela is around that. In the last yuga when she heard this Vedavati was happy. And in this kali yuga Lord Caitanya came and He had two wives, one at a time. So His first wife was Lakshmi Priya. It says, She was also Vedavati. In the kali yuga the Lord comes in disguise and at that time She also came. After some time, she passed away. Then Lord Caitanya, He married a second time to Vishnupriya who is the actual Sita. So in this way somehow Lord Rama and Lord Caitanya’s pastimes have some connection. Also Lord Caitanya, He came here on His tour of south India. And His lotus feet were installed in Tirumala. Not very well kept.

So have you been observing the Holy Name week? And we are very happy that Tirupati is distributing so many of Prabhupad’s books. Book distribution ki jai! All this is very pleasing to Srila Prabhupad. I think recently Tirupati moved to the second position in the world. And Mayapur is first all the eleven months but December Delhi distributed more books with the help of the congregation.

One thing, I went to a temple called Nathdwara in Rajasthan. There Srinathji is worshipped. He is mentioned in the Caitanya Caritamrita as Gopal and He was the Lord of Madhavendra Puri. When the Mughals attacked, many of the deities were taken to Rajasthan. So there is this deity of Gopal and He is known as Srinathji. So I saw they have a very good standard of service. A buffalo would come carrying firewood. The devotee would pull a rope and all the firewood would fall down. He called: seva! Seva! So seva means service. So people ran to him and started carrying the firewood on their heads and bringing it to the kitchen. So I also took one wood! Haribol! To do some seva. And took it into the kitchen. There was a big pile in the kitchen and I put it on top of it. There were many people who came to offer flowers, vegetables and fruits to the deity. Like that a whole market came of vegetables, fruits and flowers. Not to buy and take home but to buy and offer the deity. Some people buy milk, some would buy some milk. And they would have sections, here is the milk, here are the flowers, here are the fruits. That was very nice. I went to many temples around India. In some temples they said take flowers in the hand and bow down. Repeat after me. Namo Brahmanya devaya, Go brahmana Hitaaya cha, Gaur NItaya Kṛṣṇaaya Govindaya Namo namaha. Now bow down! Just like you are doing the offering in the temple. Give me the flowers, you bow down to the deities. So they don’t know what to do. So if you tell them, they don’t refuse. In the Balaji temple they don’t have this. Hurry up hurry up, hurry up! That is what they say. No time. But here you have time. So here you can train them. How to bow down, how to chant. In this way engage the people in Kṛṣṇa’s service. Then they will be very happy. And Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad Gita said, bow down, think of Me, become My devotee, offer Your worship to Me. We can get them to bow down, to listen to katha. Hopefully, they will become devotees. Haribol! Any questions? In the future you write down.

Question: Inaudible

Guru maharaj: Understood? Prabhupad said that His mind, His body, His atma is all the same. Everything is Kṛṣṇa’s atma. Similarly, the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is also non-different from Kṛṣṇa. So while chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, one gets directly connected to Kṛṣṇa. Remembering is also worshipping. And Lord Caitanya said even if he chants Hare Kṛṣṇa only once, he will be considered a devotee. Haribol! But having faith in the holy name is very special.

Question: How can we feel the presence of Kṛṣṇa at all times?

Guru maharaj: This is a very advanced stage. If you can feel the presence of Kṛṣṇa all the time, that is very good. But if you cannot, then you should practice devotional service. By practicing regularly devotional service, trying to achieve the spontaneous level and to feel Kṛṣṇa all the time, even now you can used your intelligence and think of Kṛṣṇa all the time. How Kṛṣṇa is present in every atom, in every living entity, in every living thing. Like Prabhupad said, a drunkard, an alcoholic, can also think that this wine it tastes so good that this taste of wine is Kṛṣṇa! Last question.

Question: Inaudible.

Guru Maharaja: Mystery! Ha!

So we will be visiting and staying at the farm for two days. So Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday for sure we will be here. Maybe Saturday night. If the program finishes early, we will come here and give class. Otherwise, I will be giving class on the internet. I heard some may come to the farm. So I will be missing your association. Haribol!